The announcement that Lee Brown, SVP of national sales for Groupon, will step down from the company, points to deeper challenges for the company, and the daily coupon industry more broadly, according to industry watchers.

Dunkin' Donuts launched a daily deal through Groupon on Dec. 30 that is aimed toward first-time Groupon customers, said Jessica Gioglio, public relations and social media manager at Dunkin' Brands Inc.

Online home improvement marketplace BidMyCrib.com filed a lawsuit on Dec. 6 against Groupon that alleges the daily deals company altered its merchant agreement without notifying the merchant or soliciting consent to the changes.

Groupon's initial public offering (IPO) last month raised $700 million, the largest IPO by an Internet company since Google's in 2004 generated $1.7 billion. Many are now questioning, in spite of the IPO's success, whether the daily deals site will continue its upward trajectory or if this is simply a honeymoon period before reality sets in.

Daily deal companies Groupon and LivingSocial both initiated the process to become publicly traded companies in June, moves that could dramatically shift the direct marketing landscape as digital coupon companies gain momentum and marketing agencies evaluate how to leverage their services.

Groupon will launch travel vertical Groupon Getaways with Expedia this week, Julie Mossler, PR and consumer marketing manager at Groupon, said July 11. The Chicago-based company will offer travel deals including discounts on flights, hotels and cruises through the service.

Daily discount king Groupon, fresh off filing paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to hold an initial public offering (IPO), took its first step into grocery retail discounts last month.

Less than half (48%) of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that have run a daily deal promotion say they would use the promotion vehicle again, according to a study by Rice University professor of management Utpal Dholakia. Of the 324 businesses surveyed, about a third (32%) said they were uncertain if they'd run another daily deal promotion, and 20% said they would not.

New England-based supermarket chain Big Y Foods has partnered with Groupon on a pilot program that will allow loyalty club members to redeem high-value coupons at supermarket locations, both companies said June 7.

Daily deal website Groupon filed for a $750 million initial public offering on June 2. The company said in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to go public "as soon as practicable after this registration statement becomes effective."

Google will roll out a mobile payment system and national daily deals service this summer that will let consumers make purchases and redeem offers from their mobile phones at participating merchant locations, the company said at a May 26 event in New York.

Rob Solomon, president and COO of Groupon, will step down from his position at the Chicago-based coupon site after about one year at the company, said Julie Mossler, PR and consumer marketing manager at Groupon. He will remain in his position while the company searches for a replacement.

Digital communications platform Skype launched display advertising for Windows users in the US, UK and Germany on March 7. Groupon, Visa, Nokia and Universal Pictures are among the brands that have signed up at launch to sponsor Skype's homepage for a day.

Citysearch, a local online business guide, launched a location-based iPhone and Android app on February 15 that aggregates coupons and daily deals. Citysearch parent company CityGrind Media and third-party providers, such as Groupon and The DealMap, are participating in the program at launch.

After roughly a decade's decline, the distribution of traditional and digital coupons has increased for both of the past two years, with digital coupons "growing at a faster rate," said Patrick Crisp, a spokesperson for digital coupon distributor Coupons.com.

HP has agreed to acquire Vertica, an analytics platform provider, the companies said February 14. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of HP's 2011 fiscal year, which will end April 30. An HP spokesperson told Direct Marketing News that "it's too soon to tell if Vertica will retain its brand" and added that "employee decisions will be made at the conclusion of the acquisition process."

Former Euro RSCG Chicago president Jamie King launched his own multidiscipline agency, Camp & King, with Euro holding company Havas Communications Group on February 3. A day earlier, Euro RSCG Chicago named Norm Yustin, who will resign as global CMO at teen fashion brand Claire's, as his replacement.

Google is creating a US-only daily deals service and competitor to Groupon called Google Offers. Google reportedly tried to buy Groupon with a multibillion-dollar offer last month, but was rejected by the deals website.

Groupon has hired Vertica Systems, a real-time analytics platform provider, to analyze subscriber behavior and scale its business intelligence capabilities, the daily deal site said January 18. Chicago-based Groupon will use Vertica's platform to analyze data to attribute revenue and other performance metrics to individual consumers.

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